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High Country Ranches
By Don Berger
Photos by Dann Coffey
“Western Colorado is a beautiful place and the best way to fully experience our western traditions is to be a part of the finer ranches that have helped shape those traditions,” according to Dick Kesler, who heads Slifer Smith & Frampton Real Estate’s Mountain Ranch Properties division. Specializing in ranch sales since the mid 1980s, Kesler has been involved in the sale of more than 85,000 deeded acres, one of which represented approximately seven percent of the total amount of private land sold in Eagle County.
Ranch sales are unlike any other in the real estate market, and Kesler says that market is changing rapidly here in Colorado. There’s a growing scarcity of “trophy ranches,” he says, which he defines as ranches that provide buyers with a strategic location — National Forest or Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, year round running streams and rivers ("live" water) with fly fishing, contiguous deeded acreage with a nice balance of meadows, forested areas, hay ground and snow capped mountain views, all within one hour of a regional airport.
Tim Casey at Breckenridge-based Mountain Marketing Associates concurs. He has sold most of the ranches in Summit County’s Blue River Valley over the last 25 years. He and Kesler acknowledge that most of the “trophy” ranches in the immediate vicinity of resort areas were developed as golf course communities and for other resort-related purposes long ago.
But not too far from major Colorado Rocky Mountain resorts — some within an hour — are pristine ranches that occasionally become available. In Casey’s case, many of these are about an hour’s drive north of Breckenridge in the Kremmling area of Grand County.
For Kesler, they are farther west, past Glenwood Springs (which is about 45 minutes from the Vail/Beaver Creek area). One of his most recent sales was the Okenala Ranch, about seven miles west of Glenwood Springs. The 540-acre spread was sold for $6.5 million. Another was the 775-acre Table Rock Ranch, less than 45 minutes northwest of Vail. That ranch went for $7,715,000. Nearby, the 148-acre Yarmony Ranch recently went on the market for $3,395,000. According to Kesler, current available ranches range in price from $825,000 to $9,200,000.
Casey has observed that current buyers are slightly more cautious in today’s economic climate. “Yet, if they see something they like, they are still willing to step up and write a check because land is tangible,” he says. “It’s often nicer to have a piece of dirt in your portfolio versus a piece of paper.”
Kesler explains with relief that the current profile of ranch buyers has changed very little. “Ranch buyers today are looking for a place that offers the opportunity to enjoy a different lifestyle,” he says. “The ranch becomes a gathering place for the family, a place where everyone can come together to enjoy the activities and expanse of the west. Add wildlife, good horses, extraordinary scenery and you have the ingredients of a great lifestyle.”
"It's still very pleasing to see what a majority of individuals do with their ranches," he adds. "Most people are very interested in preserving the land, either through their own private means or through conservation easements. Today’s ranch buyers are excellent stewards of the land." Through habitat improvement, streambed enhancement and careful grazing practices, most ranches are excellent examples of environmental sensitivity and sound business practices.
Both Kesler and Casey agree that the classic Colorado ranch appeals to several types of purchasers. “One is the resort second-home owner who may have been coming to the resorts for years and who now are realizing a long-held, somewhat romantic aspiration of owning a real Colorado ranch,” says Kesler. “At the same time, they may want to stay relatively close to the resorts and all of their recreational amenities. They may even want to keep their home or condo in Vail, or Breckenridge or Aspen, using their ranch as a family retreat regardless of the time of year.”
If desired, such an owner could continue the harvesting of the hay crop and maybe even lease some of the ranch land to cattle owners.
Another potential buyer is the serious equestrian. “Some of these ranches are very suitable for horse people because so many have an abundance of suitable terrain,” explains Kesler, an avid horse enthusiast himself. “You need a sizable amount of flat terrain for corrals, arenas and training.” Ideally, they also offer immediate access to several wilderness trails for those who like to ride.
Those with easy access to public lands make these ranches attractive to another type of purchaser as well — the entrepreneur who may want to use the ranch as a recreational resort offering a variety of traditional Colorado outdoor activities. Rafting, fishing, horseback riding, tennis and cookouts are but a few of the activities for which such a ranch could be well suited. Hunting is also possible as deer and elk are plentiful in the adjacent BLM lands. To enhance the western ambiance of the resort, some cattle could be kept on the ranch.
Taking this concept one step further, the ranch could offer overnight lodging or become a full-scale dude ranch. Both its access to public land and the close proximity to a regional airport — such as those in Eagle County, Rifle, Grand Junction, Gunnison and Montrose, to mention a few — are definite plusses for the resort option. And the closeness of major resorts could appeal to vacationers who want some variety during their Colorado vacation.
Yet another option is to parcel the land into “ranchettes.” Under Colorado and some Colorado county laws, this type of property could offer parcels of 35 or more acres without going through formal subdivision regulations. Both Kesler and Casey note, however, that the vast majority of today’s buyers keep the ranches in tact.
Regardless of how these ranches are eventually used, they offer purchasers a rare opportunity to own a bone fide piece of Colorado’s western heritage.
Don Berger, a longtime Vail resident, is editor of Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine and Vail-Beaver Creek Magazine, and a veteran real estate reporter.
Fractional Ownership Is Hot!
"It's still very pleasing to see what a majority of individuals do with their ranches," he adds. "Most people are very interested in preserving the land, either through their own private means or through conservation easements. Today’s ranch buyers are excellent stewards of the land." Through habitat improvement, streambed enhancement and careful grazing practices, most ranches are excellent examples of environmental sensitivity and sound business practices.
